Gotham Producer and Cast on Their Noir Approach

''We won’t break the canonical iron truths.''

By
Eric Goldman

Speaking about Gotham today at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, executive producer Bruno Heller was asked about the large group of Batman characters introduced in the pilot of the series. While the producers have already said more characters would be introduced, could they keep up with that pace?

Said Heller, “You kind of have to front load the pilot with the best that you’ve got. You have to open big.” However, he noted, “As the show rolls on, we’ll be far more careful with how we roll out the villains. They’ll be far more surprises than just presenting them.”

Heller used the Oswald Cobblepot / the Penguin (played by Robin Lord Taylor) as an example of someone who “comes pretty much fully fledged in front of us,” but said other characters would be slower to emerge.

One question some fans have raised is if the show is essentially an exercise in futility – in that we know Jim Gordon and the GCPD can’t clean up the streets too much, if Batman is eventually needed to fight crime there.

Said Heller, “That’s the situation that the show is all about. How do you deal with crime at this level when there are no superheroes? Just ordinary men and women trying to solve these issues.” He said there was “hope and struggle” for these characters and it was “Not about waiting for a savior,” adding, “It’s about men and women, not about superheroes, and to me those are the more interesting stories.”

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While the show has an ensemble cast and the young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) is an important character, Heller noted, “Gordon is the moral lynchpin,” saying he, in a way, “Creates Batman or gives Batman permission to exist in this world,” and that the show would show his journey from a man following a strict code of law and order to getting to a place where he can “accept this dark vigilante.”

Danny Cannon, who directed the pilot, said that when developing Gotham, the discussion by the creative team became about “What would cause this world to need a wealthy vigilante to save them years down line?”

Asked how much they might be changing the mythology of Batman as seen in the comics, Heller stressed the word mythology, remarking, “Mythology, in the true sense of the word, is precisely when so many stories have been created that none of them can be constant with the other,” saying that was definitely the case with Batman at this point. However, he added that while they will make their own changes to certain aspects of the story, “We won’t break the canonical iron truths.”

Another question is whether it takes anything away knowing many of the characters have to survive in order to become what we know them to be. Heller said he wasn’t worried about that, noting, “It’s a sad thing when you can only build tension by killing people.”

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Benjamin McKenize ("James Gordon") evoked Greek tragedies that would tell you the ending as the story began, saying that shouldn’t weaken the story if it’s strong enough. McKenzie said that even though there was an expect of Gordon fighting insurmountable odds, it felt right because, “It’s noir. It’s so overwhelming, no single man is going to be able to overcome it,” and he rejected the idea that, “Our hero is doomed, therefor we shouldn’t be interested in his story.” Heller added, “There’s victories along the way and there’s hope along the way.”

Cory Michael Smith ("Edward Nigma") said he felt Gotham was “about a power struggle. James is going to always have a nemesis,. He’ll always have someone to fight against. It’s never fixed. It’s never actually working. The exciting thing is the power struggle and who’s in charge.”

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Heller revealed, “The first year is about the rise of the Penguin and his titanic struggle against Fish Mooney [played by Jada Pinkett Smith].”

Heller elaborated on why Gotham, with its origin focus, was the right DC Comics show for him. “Heroes are more interesting to me than superheroes. Superheroes do the impossible and drama is really about the possible, the physically possible. This is about people. People trying to overcome real problems, as opposed to learning how to fly.” He added, “The really interesting part of the stories for me is the origin stories.”

The producers noted that Gotham is purposely vague on what era it’s set in – characters carry fairly modern phones but also drive cars right out of the 1970s.

As Heller put it, “If today Batman exists, then this is the past, but it’s everybody’s past.”